No extraction plan
by 000Diana000
Summary: Natasha and Clint were caught during a mission (not having any extraction plan) and the rest of the team go to find them, but get caught too. We all know that the Avengers will always save other people when they need saving, but who saves the team when they need saving? This used to be a mess, but now that I've sorted it out, it (hopefully) makes sense.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This story is inspired by Agent Hand's line in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D:**

**'Barton, Romanoff, they never had an extraction team.'**

**Also, Thor's not going to appear as he's in Asgard**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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><p>After the Avengers had moved in the Avengers Tower (former Stark Tower), things got a little crazy for Pepper Potts's liking. She had, of course become friends and cared for each of them. Natasha, being the only girl, immediately became Pepper's friend. After all, living with five men may be difficult at times.<p>

Dr. Banner and Steve, with their politeness and shyness, were adorable. Like two giant teddy bears. Even Thor, with his loud voice and strange behavior, was very nice once you got to know him.

Probably her favorite out of all of them was Clint. He was just like Tony. Well, maybe not exactly, but their personalities were extremely similar. They both loved to annoy other people. Without the two of them it would have been much more quiet in the Avengers Tower.

But before any of that, in the first months of them staying at the tower, things had been more awkward.

Each of them tried to stay as far away from the others as possible. They locked themselves inside their rooms and check the halls before going out in case someone was already out. It was exactly like a hide and seek game, the only exception being that no one was trying to find the others. Except for, of course, Pepper. She was the only ones that tried to keep the team together. She saw how they acted on the field, when their lives were in danger. They acted like a family. They trusted each other, had each other's back. But as soon as they entered the building it was like they were complete strangers.

Like in any other cases, all they needed was a little push in the right direction.

"Romanoff and Barton are down." These five little words made four men's heart to stop.

"Wh-What do you mean, sir?" Cap was the first one to get his voice back and to snap out of the trance they had all been under.

The two assassins had been gone for about a week and a half on a mission somewhere they wouldn't tell. "It's classified". Yeah, look where that had gotten them.

"They've been captured. We don't have the exact coordinates yet. We will send an extraction team as soon as we have them." Fury's voice was, too, full of sadness.

"What do you mean you'll send an extraction team? Isn't the team supposed to be around the area they've been sent to? Isn't the team supposed to take them out of there right away? How can you not know the 'exact coordinates' then?" Tony's voice held a big amount of barley contained rage. He was so close to screaming at Fury.

"Yes, Stark. The extraction team is supposed to do that. But Barton and Romanoff have never had an extraction team. It had always been their choice." Fury tried to explain as patiently as he could.

"So what you are saying is that each mission was practically a suicidal mission. How. Comes. That. We. Didn't. Knew. Any Of THAT?" Bruce started to turn a little green as the last words were screamed.

As Bruce saw green, the others saw only red. The only coherent thought they had was:' We've got to save them'. They shared a look and rushed to get their weapons and suits. While they were getting ready, Tony started hacking S.H.I.E.L.D's information base and started searching on his own where his two favorite assassins might be.

"Found them! Let's go!" Tony shouted as he headed to the others

Iron Man, Thor and the jet landed, they all looked around. It was a desert, as the only thing they had been able to see was sand. Somewhere on their left a hill was the one thing that stood out in the infinite, plain, desert. As Thor, Steve and Bruce discussed if they needed Hulk or not, Tony flew around the hill to search for some kind of entrance. Finding none, he did the only logical thing he could think of: he prepared to blast a hole through the sand. Thor's large hand on the suit-s forearm stop him.

"I don't think that's wise, Anthony" Thor said, surprisingly gentle.

Tony nodded. What had he been thinking? He clearly hadn't been thinking.

"Jarvis, scan the area and let me know once you find anything weird"

"Right away, Sir" the robotic voice answered with a slight British accent.

But Jarvis didn't manage to do anything as the whole suit shut down.

"Jarvis? What the hell is going on?" Tony asked. After he realized he wasn't going to get an answer he wanted to turn around to talk to the others, but since it was all shut down, he couldn't. He was caged in his own suit.

"Guys? A little help?" he said out loud, hoping they would hear him before he fell face down on the sand. He didn't have any luck as something hit the back of the suit's head which made him hit his forehead. He blacked out.

When Bruce opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was the darkness of the room. The floor was made of rock like the wall he had been resting his back on while asleep. 'Well that explains the pain in my back' he muttered.

Right next to him was something warm. As he was trying to find out what it was with his hands he heard a voice he hadn't heard in what it felt like weeks.

"I know you love me, Dr. Banner, so there's no need to show it" the voice that belonged to the person next to him sounded tired.

"Clint! How are you? Are you hurt? Where Natasha? Is she hurt?" Banner started babbling as rage for the one that kidnapped his teammate and joy for finding him alive was starting to make him feel dizzier.

"Nat's not here" His answer brought Bruce a shiver down his spine

"Where is she?" another voice asked, startling Bruce, but apparently not Clint.

Tony had been woken up by the sound of Clint and Bruce talking. 'Ugh, can't a man sleep in peace not even in his own house. _Wait a minute_, his heart pounding in his chest so fast that it hurt, _he wasn't in the Tower anymore_. That's when he became able to understand what Clint and Bruce talked about.

"Nat's not here" Clint's words made Tony's heart beat even louder if that was possible

"Where is she?"

"They took her"

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><p>Her body felt numb. She almost forgot where she was or how she got there. They stopped the torture a few minutes. A few heavenly minutes. But Nat was trained as the best spy so she started to search trough the room for something to help her out. The first thing she realized was that she was alone. They got out before she became conscious again. The room was dark but she could see a table on her left. 'They must've kept the utensils there' she thought, no emotion felt. She gazed around, waiting for her eyes to adjust the darkness completely. When they finally did, she also noticed a door on her left side, as she sat down, on the wet, sticky floor. Nothing else could be seen in that room. She cringed as the events that had happened before she passed out came back to her.<p>

"_'How do you like this, spidey? Isn't this the way you tortured him? It is, isn't it?" a deep, sinister voice that belonged to the man who kept on electrocuting her asked."'You sure you don't remember? Because I do. Quite clearly I might add. As you had also called me and the rest of the family to be sure they all hear him screaming.'_

She had tried over and over to remember who he was talking about, but she couldn't. She was aware there had been a lot of torturing and killing in her past she couldn't and probably wouldn't remember. She had been controlled and brainwashed. That still didn't excuse her that behavior. The man her torturer was talking about could have been one of the hundred faces she dreamt about. She dreamt about killing them over and over again. Almost every night meant a new face. She shook her head, water dripping off her hair.

_"Well then, it seems I have to refresh your memory a bit, don't you think? I hear the best way to do that is to chill a bit." the man laughed as he threw her head in the ice-cold water. Just when she was close to pass out, he got her out for a couple of seconds. Over and over._

_"You know? You'd think that after mutilating a man and killing him while his family's on the other line of the phone would at least make you remember him. I'd say it would at least make you have nightmares but you sleep like a baby, don't you? You're a freakin' monster, that's what you are. You're so damn lucky I'm not allowed to kill you. But at the same time you're not so lucky because I'm allowed to torture you as I wish."_

And so the endless pain continued. "What have I done to him and why?". She frowned as more memories came flooding to her.

"_You know, at least I admit I'm a monster." she licked her dried lips and immediately felt the metallic taste of blood on her tongue " But what about him?"' she tried to trick the man into divulging what was that all about._

_"Don't you dare insult him by comparing yourself to him? My brother was a dreamer. He meant well. He loved your sister, but had a short temper. He got jealous. Who could blame him? She was gorgeous. One night's mistake led to that mess. He was going to go tell the police everything the very next day he realized you were after him. But you had to play god and decide a life in prison wasn't enough. So that's what I'm doing right now, and after they let me, I'll kill you the same way you did to him."_

That was the only thing she was able to remember. The words swirled around in her mind. Her sister? She must have been undercover with another one from the Black Widow program. She didn't have any siblings. That she was sure. But if the girl was in that program too, how could that man's brother kill her just like that?

She shook her head again. She wasn't going to let that cloud her mind more than it was already. She always found people who wanted to kill her for revenge. Always hearing halves of stories. Never knowing the truth. Not even S.H.I.E.L.D. was able to find more about the stories than she found. She had been and still was good at leaving no evidence behind.

She shut her eyes as a massive amount of light came out when the door on her left opened. Two pairs of hands grabbed her and took her out of there. She counted their steps and memorized the way. The two men opened a door and threw her in. As soon as they had closed the door, another pairs of arms lifted her, or tried to, as she had enough energy left to put up a fight. She would have done it before if she hadn't been only half-conscious.

"Nat, it's me. Calm down." a voice she never thought she would hear again said.

"B-Bruce? What are you doing here?" she, however never heard his answer as the sweet darkness took over and she fell once more into unconsciousness.

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><p><strong>Soo..what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Reviews are more than appreciated.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Before you start reading, I would like to explain some things. I needed a character for Bruce and General Ross was the only one that worked, so I used him even though I don't know much about him so I'm sorry if I get something wrong or you think he is OOC.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't understand why you have to write this thing but... I DON'T OWN ANYTHING.**

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><p>Bruce watched the red-haired woman's eyes shut as she passed out. He gently lifted the unconscious form in his arms and put her down next to him on the floor, in the darker corner of the roomcell. He let his eyes wonder once again over the room they were in. Still no way out besides the door Nat had been thrown inside through.

At least he found Natasha. But he couldn't get in touch with the others to let them know she's fine... or at least still alive. They probably worried about him too if they were still in the room he had last seen them.

_"They took her" Clint's words sunk in painfully slowly._

_No one said a word for a long time. Why her? Why her and Clint? Why take all of them? The only explanation possible at the time was that they had thought she was going to break easily than Clint and tell them what they wanted to find. That was everybody's explanation for Clint and Nat's kidnap: finding out S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets. They had no idea how far from the cruel truth they were._

_"What do you remember? How'd they caught you?"' asked Steve. Always the frank one, No beating around the bush. Bruce was glad for that as no matter how much he wanted to know that, he was still processing what happened to be able to ask questions._

_"At first, the mission was like everyone we've done. Get in the base, do what we had to and get out how we could."_

_"Without any extraction plan." stated Tony in an emotionless voice, but the rest knew better. Tony was furious, but he either was too tired to let it show or he simply didn't want to._

_'"Yeah." Clint admitted, but seeing the murderous looks he got, he felt the need to explain their actions. "Haven't you ever wondered why S.H.I.E.L.D still call us for missions?'"_

_When he realized no one was going to answer that question, he went on "Well, we're kind of the only ones that volunteer for that kind of missions. Don't give me that look. We're not, maybe we were. It's just... how do I put this so that you freaks would stop pressing the matter forever?.. well, for starters when Coulson lived and we were his team, Strike Team Delta " the rest could swore they'd seen Clint smile a little at the mention of his former team "Well.. We were just runaways and Coulson took us under his wing. "_

_"Me first, then Nat. We had, and still have blood on our hands. I'm not talking about the bad guys we get rid of for S.H.I.E.L.D, but innocent people we've killed before Coulson found us. I guess we just felt like we need to do what other agents couldn't, as we had done horrible things in the past, no one else would have done." but when he had seen Steve and Bruce wanted to argue he cut them off._

_"'If you even try to say we have nothing to feel responsible for, everybody makes mistakes, you've changed, we all have blood on our hands, that kind of speech, I swear I'll punch you."_

_That shut them all up for a while, again trying to process everything that was said. Bruce would have enjoyed the silence if it hadn't been covering the question that was in their minds 'Where's Natasha?' so he broke the silence._

_"You never finished your story. How did you get caught?"_

_"Well as I was saying, we got in the base." Clint's tired voice echoed through the big, empty room. "We both felt something wasn't right. After years of doing this job, you kind know when isn't. The base's in the middle of nowhere, as you had probably seen when you got in. We were on guard, expecting something to happen, somebody to jump on us, or something. Nothing happened, so we started looking inside the rooms. I memorized the place. I think Nat too. That's going to help us when we try to get out' Clint's optimistic thinking made then all feel a little better. _

_"When we entered this room, we made a mistake. After so many empty rooms, we let our guard down for a second and all I can remember is something hard hitting me. Then I passed out. When I opened my eyes, Nat was already conscious, so we started to talk, in more languages at once, in case someone was listening. We started to make a plan. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned, when they took her first out. When they hit us, I recognized a voice just before I passed out. It was my brother Barney. That's why I logically assumed it was a trap and that he wanted to get revenge on me. They took her instead, so I must've been wrong."_

_It seemed like every time Clint finished a story, they weren't able to make a sound. In the suffocating silence, they almost heard each other's thoughts. The new silence was interrupted by the hard, metallic door opening, revealing two dark figures._

_Clint tried to stand, but failed miserably. He shouted at them instead_

_"What do you want with her? It's me you want. I've seen Barney. Why take her instead?"_

_When neither of the men answered, Steve stood up and like at a sign, the others, with Clint's exception, stood two, but they were still a little bit light headed. They waited for their captain's next move. When Steve threw the first punch, Tony and Bruce did as well. Bruce, however tried not to get angry, because if the Hulk decided to enter the game, seeing as they're caged, it would bring painful memories and probably kill everybody in the room. When Steve's fist collided with one of the two men's face and Tony and Bruce took down the other one, more men entered the room. Somebody grabbed Steve by the neck and punched him in the stomach, while others grabbed Tony and Bruce. After struggling a while, they realized they had no chance. The men let go of Steve and Tony and hit them in their stomach once more. They put a piece of cloth onto Bruce's nose and mouth. Bruce's eyes fell heavy after a few breaths. Steve grabbed the guy's holding Bruce ankle and asked. 'Where are you taking him?' as if the men would ever answer. He hit Steve once more and left the room._

_Clint stood there wide-eyed. "What the hell just happened?" he asked, his voice sounding strange even for his own ears._

_"They took him too" Tony's answer came from the other side of the room._

Bruce looked at the red-head that was unconscious next to him. He hoped she was all right. He searched for wounds and found just a few cuts that were deep, but not deep enough to be a danger for her. He knew her body would manage with them as he cleaned cuts much more ugly and from what a normal person would pass out, yet she had been standing and giving him instructions on how to clean them properly. She had, however, many bruises and a few possible broken ribs. As he was searching for wounds, he didn't notice she woke up.

Natasha opened her eyes and would have closed them again if she hadn't felt somebody near her. Her eyes snapped open and prepared herself to attack.

"It's ok, Natasha, it's me" Bruce's soothing voice reached her ears and she closed her eyes and sighed. After a few seconds she opened her eyes again.

"How did you get here?"

'Just like you did.' grumbled Bruce.

"Did they torture you too?" Natasha's question brought once again memories from just after the men took him away from his teammates.

_"I suppose you didn't expect me, Dr. Banner" the one person Bruce hoped wouldn't have to see again was there. The day was getting better and better. Bruce prepared himself for the Hulk to come out, but nothing happened._

_"You, of course, wonder why your true face can't show up. Well I am proud to tell you that I can't tell you anything about that." the imposing man, general Ross almost laughed. Bruce wanted to keep talking to him, but the general left. The doctor was getting more and more confused as he looked around the room he had been taken. It was almost like the one he had been before with the others, but on the wall in front of him was a TV. Bruce briefly wondered if Natasha had been taken in that room too and where was she now. The sound of the TV being turned on startled him. He looked around the dark room, but realized he had been left by himself. The two men that had been with the general must have left with him._

_The TV captured his attention again when a hiss, sounding very familiar was heard. Bruce's eyes snapped back to the TV and opened wide in anger, fear and just enough confusion._

_"How do you like this, spider? Isn't this the way you tortured him? It is, isn't it?"_

_Bruce's vision turned slightly green as he watched Natasha grimace in pain. Her face was paler than usual and despite her hair color, Bruce though he could see blood behind her left ear. Bruce was jerked away from the image as he felt a sharp pain in the right side of his head. Then another in his back. He knew the sensation, but usually he would have transformed into Hulk already. His eyes closed in fear and pain as he realized how he was going to be tortured. He was going to have to watch his friends being tortured, without having any possibility to help them and if that wasn't enough he couldn't hulk-out but just sit and fell both physical and mental pain._

"Bruce?" Natasha's voice made him snap out of his trance-like state.

"Yeah, they did." The concern in Nat's eyes made him try to make her feel better. "But not as much as they did to you. For me it was more of a mental torture. They made me watch you getting tortured."

Even though Bruce knew Natasha was used to torture and kidnapping, she got hurt and managed to bear only as much as any other person. She was just better at acting like it didn't hurt her at all. But that only made them angrier.

Natasha felt more sorry for Bruce than for herself. Had she been in Bruce's place she would have tried to tear down the place. Bruce was far more collected than her. With all her professional training in acting, if there was one thing she never fully learnt it was controlling herself when angry. She had put herself and Clint in many dangerous situations because of that. Clint never mentioned it because he knew how much she blamed herself for those times, but also because he had the same problem. Coulson had always been the only one that made them keep their cool during missions. Now that he was gone, their missions would end badly most of the times.

"How did you manage not to Hulk-out?" she was more concerned than curious actually.

"They did something to me. I don't know what yet, but I couldn't and can't hulk out." Bruce now stared into the darkness that was around them. Natasha had always known that Bruce lost all the hope that he could get angry like an ordinary person. She also knew that Tony spent weeks trying to find something to help him. He never found anything.

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><p><strong>I never planned for Obadiah to appear. It just sort of happen :D. The idea came to me today and I just had to write it. IAnyway, I hope you guys like it.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Another chapter!Hope you like it and sorry it took so long.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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><p>Steve was the first to be waked up by the din light that came from the door. Two men entered and Steve watched as they got closer and closer to Tony who was currently sleeping or being passed out. Steve supposed the later. He didn't remember how much time had passed since Bruce was taken, but from the tiredness he supposed at least half a day. It was unbelievable. He was Captain America. A super soldier. He was absolutely exhausted after half a day of being beaten up and locked in a dark cellar. They must have done something to him. Now that he thought about it, the fact that Bruce didn't hulk-out meant that they really did something to them.<p>

"Hey" Steve tried to make them look at him and take him instead of Tony. If he was exhausted, a simple man (even though he had an arc reactor in his chest, he was still an ordinary man) would be twice as exhausted. The fact that Tony had passed out next to Clint was another thing that showed him how little a man's body can take.

Seeing that the men lifted Tony up, Steve stood up, keeping a hand on the wall for balance, and lifted the other hand as if to punch the man holding Tony. The other man caught his hand and twisted it until Steve hissed in pain. The man laughed as he threw Captain America on the floor, then got out, closing the door.

Clint opened his eyes just in time to see the door being closed. That could mean thing. He turned his head despite the pain that brought him and counted the human forms he could see in the room. One. Only one person. The fact that he hadn't been woken up by a fight, he supposed they didn't take Steve. The soldier would put up a fight loud enough to wake the dead. But still..He realized the captain looked as tired and beaten up as him and Tony. They probably did something to him and Banner to neutralize the Hulk and the super soldier serum.

"Steve? Is that you?" Clint's voice sounded rough even to his own ears.

"They took Tony." Steve angrily said

"It doesn't make any sense." Hawkeye stated

"What doesn't?"

"All this kidnapping. If you can call it that. I mean they caught me and Tasha, probably knowing you will come to save us. They caught the mighty Avengers. Why? I don't think they want something from S.H.I.E.L.D. If they did it would've been an easier way to get it. But they wanted us"

Maybe they want revenge for something' suggested Steve

"No..If they would have wanted that we would be dead already. Haven't you noticed? They don't want us to die. But why? They will kill us, but at the right moment."

'Maybe they want somebody to watch as we are killed.' mused idea was both cruel and interesting. Who would care if we die? The first person he tough us was Fury. It would make sense. The man had probably more enemies than friends (if he had any friends). But t didn't sound right. There had to be somebody else who would do anything for them. Even risk his life. Or die... Steve's thoughts travelled to another time and place. A time and place and event that had changed six people forever. An event that remained with them ever since. Steve shook his head sadly. He wouldn't think of that now. The man's death made him feel more guilty and sad than he would have guessed. Even though he had only know the man for a little while, Coulson became a role model to them, popping in their heads from beyond the grave S.H.I.E.L.D wouldn't let them see.

Steve shook his head, trying to make the thoughts go away. He only wished the others were okay.

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><p>Tony woke up when he felt somebody lifted him. He opened his eyes, but closed them as the light hurt his eyes. He realized he wasn't with Steve and Clint anymore. He briefly wondered if he was being taken to the others, but he probably wasn't. The ones that carried him let him go and Tony hit the hard floor. He hissed in pain as he tried to turn and gave up. He opened his eyes again and was relieved to see the room was dark. At least his eyes wouldn't hurt. He turned around as a door opened and Tony tried to get up. Something hit him in the stomach and Tony started coughing. By the taste in his mouth he guessed he coughed blood. Great.<p>

Two hands lifted him and made him sit on something. Tony only guessed it was a chair as he couldn't see much. He probably had a concussion. He started panicking when something touched his arc reactor through his shirt. He prayed they would let the reactor alone. Besides being the only thing that kept him alive, it was also hard to build.

"I never took you as a fighter, Tony. I must admit I'm impressed" Tony's head turned towards the place the voice came. Tony froze as he realized the voice. That voice had been haunting him for the last years. The voice he had found, as a kid soothing. The voice that belonged to the man Tony had trusted with his life. A man that Tony killed. A man Tony hoped wasn't in the room. Obadiah Stane.

Steve watched helplessly as Clint was taken from the room too. He was more than sure, now that he had been injected with something. Maybe while he was too focused to try to fight with the men that took his teammates. He didn't feel powerful at all. He felt useless and weak. The last time he had felt like that was when his friend fell off that train many years ago. He felt like that before he was injected with the super soldier serum. And he hated it. He hated the feeling with a burning passion. Not being able to help himself, not being able to help the others. It was worse than having his arms cut off. At least he would be able to fight with his legs. They tortured him far worse. The made him feel like the skinny little man who was never able to help anybody despite the fact that he wanted to. He wanted to help the others so bad, but he could barely breathe. He slowly felt himself drifting off in a deep and sweet sleep.

When he woke up, he realized he had been moved from the cellar he used to be kept. Now he was in some sort of cage with iron bars all around him. He squeezed his eyes shut when a blast of light came through a door he supposed. After adjusting to the violent light, he saw a figure standing in front of the door. A man walked towards him. A black haired, tall, in his 40s, slender man.

"Well, well, isn't that the famous Captain America? I must admit you looked way more impressive in the old movies, the ones in which you danced with your little assistants." the man's voice was low and a little nasal. It wasn't the hair-raising, deep, creepy voice Steve expected from the one that caught them. Yet his way of talking was one of somebody used to giving orders.

"Where are the others?" Steve managed to choke out in anger.

"You wish to see them? Well, then, have a look. I hope you'll like what you'll see. Oh, and before I forget, you've got yourself a cellmate, Dr Banner" and with that the man left.

"Cap? Is that you?" a voice Captain hadn't heard for what felt like weeks, but in fact only a day asked.

"Yeah, Bruce. Is me. Where are the others?"

"They're being tortured" Bruce answered in a dead voice "They can't kill us, I can't hulk out, so we are tortured by watching the others, First, they took me to Natasha, then they took me to see an old friend. What about you?"

"I don't remember much. They must have drugged me. I do remember when they took the others, though. But that's all."

"I suppose we'll find out what happened to the rest of them." Bruce mumbled as a screen appeared in front of them.

They blinked as three images appeared on the screen. On the left was Natasha. She was in a corner of a room and Steve and Bruce sighed in relief as they saw she wasn't being tortured, though she looked pale and her hair was stuck with blood. Clint was shown on the middle screen, looking like he was screaming as a muscled man with blonde hair, resembling the archer kept poking him with something sharp, yet no blood was shivered as he wondered what kind of poison they were injecting him with. Yet he was sure they didn't want to kill them, otherwise they'd be all dead by now. Watching Tony was probably the most painful, as Bruce knew who the man that was keeping Tony's head under the ice-cold water was. Obadiah Stane. He told Steve he was Howard's friend and the Captain looked like he had been punched in the face.

"Howard was friends with this?" Steve jerked his hand towards the screen, when Tony's head was forced under the water again.

Bruce nodded and that's when Captain America swore under his breath.

Tony was cold and hot at the same time. He was angry and relieved. He was tired, yet he wanted to beat somebody up. He shivered as he thought about him. He hated that man more than he ever hated anybody. More than he hated Loki. More than he hated the Mandarin.

He saw the cameras recording every second of his torture and he wondered if they did it for fun or to show somebody. It didn't really mattered, but Tony had to keep his mind occupied, otherwise he was sure he'll go crazy. He realized the Avengers had lost. There was no backup plan, no extraction plan, nothing for them. Fury was smart enough not to send his agents to a certain death and he was relieved. He just wanted to know if the others were still alive.

They probably were, as Tony was sure that if one of them died, they would make the rest to watch it. He kept saying them, as he was sure it wasn't Obadiah that controlled everything. There was Clint's brother too. And probably someone that wanted to get revenge on Natasha, on Bruce and Steve. Well, for Steve it was different as his enemies were dead. And Natasha didn't remember much of her past. In a way it was good for her. Tony would have wanted not to know Obadiah.

He missed Pepper so much it hurt. He hoped she would be all right without him. Fury wouldn't let anything happen to her. At least Tony hoped so.

He just hoped the rest would die without pain.

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><p>Natasha was already sick of waking up in pain. She opened her eyes, expecting to find only darkness. Ever since Bruce was taken she had been alone. No it was only right to be a little shocked to find herself in a cage. It wasn't as dark as the cellar she had been kept in by then.<p>

"Nat?" she heard a voice she was afraid she might never hear again.

"Clint?" Natasha turned around to see another cage at her left, with Clint sitting inside.

"Yeah. You alright?"

"Yes, are you? Was it really Barney?" Natasha had more question to ask him, but decided to ask one at a time.

_After he was dragged out of the cellar he got locked in another one. Only in the new one, there was a man. A man Clint had once known and trusted and loved. Barney Barton. His brother. The one that literally stabbed him in the back. The men that got him there left and Clint was confused. He was in a room alone with his seemingly unarmed brother. It was too good to be true._

_"Come on, Clint! Yeah, you've noticed. I'm not armed. You can kick me if you want." Clint knew he had been drugged, yet he had always been better at fighting than his brother. But as much as Hawkeye would have wanted to beat Barney senseless, first things first._

_"Why am I here? Why are the others here? Who you're working for?"_

_"You're here because I wanted you here. The others because others wanted them here. And let's just say the man I'm working for hates you lot, but hates somebody else more and that's why you're not dead. Yet." Barney Barton smirked and when he did that Clint realized how similar they were. They looked very much alike, but Clint would have never done what Barney had. Barney did anything for money, while Clint wouldn't. Even back where he was a paid assassin, he still had some boundaries._

_"What happened to the others? Somebody from the past shows up and torture them too"' Clint already knew the answer and that scared him. While for Cap was hard to find somebody from the past, he made some enemies in this century. He knew the only one S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't convince to let Bruce be was Captain Ross, but he was human, so there's not so much that could be done to the Hulk. With Natasha it was tough. She had an enemy from the past pop in her life at least once a few months. She didn't even remember them. Tony was way too arrogant not to have made enemies. It could be the Ten Rings or Hammer, well he didn't know anybody else._

_"You're wondering what happened to the others? Well, let's see: the Widow is tortured by some Russian dude whose name I can't pronounce and I'm sure she doesn't know who he is, Bruce is watching you right now and so is Cap, say hello to them' Barney pointed towards a corner of the ceiling where a camera was. 'And Tony Stark, the great Iron Man just met the Ghost of Christmas Past" and not letting Clint think who that might be, Barney closed the distance between them and threw the first punch, hitting Clint straight in the nose. Clint blinked once and raised his hand to punch his brother back, but he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He saw Barney with a needle in his hand. He was drugging him so he could beat him up. Coward. That was the last thought Clint had until he woke up in the cell next to Natasha's_

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><p><strong>Review, guys!<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys**

**Yesterday I watched Captain America the Winter Soldier and it gave me a few ideas for this story. There aren't any spoilers, just so you know.**

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><p>Another round of being beaten up and tortured and the all woke up in cages, one next to another. Bruce woke up first and was more than relived to see the whole team alive. He was in the middle and le looked to his left to find Captain America and Natasha and Clint and Tony on his right. He saw Clint move and Bruce wanted to talk to him, but Clint was still asleep, so the doctor decided against it. He resumed to taking in where they were kept. He realized this was another step towards the big finale. When the bad guys were going to tell them their plan. They were going to boast about how smart their boss was, so the Avengers would find something and escape. That was how it usually went down. But this time the bad guys didn't want to kill them. They wanted to make someone else suffer. The question was who? Fury? No way. Agent Hill? Not possible. So, no one from S.H.I.E.L.D. Then who?<p>

"Bruce? Wat'cha thinkin' bout?" Tony's half asleep voice was heard.

"Nothing, Tony. Go back to sleep." Bruce figured if they would have to fight, the least they could do was rest.

Tony mumbled an 'okay' and closed his eyes again.

"Now, really Bruce. What do you think about the whole deal?" Steve was awake too, it appeared, but he had his eyes closed. So he either was sleep talking or decided he didn't want to wake up to some depressing cellar. Bruce could understand that.

"Don't know. Definitely to make someone suffer, but who?" even though Steve knew Bruce's question was rhetorical, Steve answered

"There's no way someone from S.H.I.E.L.D. Pepper, maybe? And Betty? Peggy's somewhere in England. I'm not even sure she knows they've found me." Bruce knew Steve searched for Peggy and even went to see her. Undercover, of course. Bruce's thoughts travelled to Betty. Doctor Elizabeth Ross. Bruce missed her, but he knew she didn't miss him. Or the Hulk for that matter. It didn't make any sense to be them. Why would they have taken Clint and Natasha first, then? Bruce turned his head towards Tony. He just hoped Pepper was somewhere safe at least for Tony's sake. Without her, Bruce didn't know what Tony would do.

"There's no way. It wouldn't make any sense." a new voice said. The Black Widow was awake too. It was weird for Steve to hear her voice so weak and tired. He knew he shouldn't worry about her that much. She could take care of herself, but old habits die hard.

"You okay?" Steve asked, though he knew that even if she wasn't she wouldn't admit it.

"Been better." was her short reply

"I think I know why we're here." Bruce turned to Tony who looked just as bad as the rest were.

"Yeah, me too." Clint said. It appeared the whole team decided to wake up.

Tony and Clint shared a look that made the others uncomfortable.

"You tell them, or should I?'"Clint asked Tony

"You knew him better than anybody here. Tell 'em" Tony had a strange look in his eyes. Both sad and hopeful.

"They want to make Coulson suffer."

"What?" all heads were now turned towards the archer.

Before Clint managed to open his mouth to say more, a light came out of the door on their left. Five masked men entered and behind them, a smartly dressed man. He didn't have a mask, because he didn't need one, Tony thought as he realized who that man was.

"Ian Quinn, buddy. How are you? Nothing interesting happened in your life lately?" Tony greeted the man and walked closer to the man. Being in a cage like an animal didn't seem to faze the billionaire as he acted like he was at some party and he was the host.

"Wow, look who's back from the dead. Last time I heard about you were supposedly dead, being eaten by some fish, but we all know there isn't a single fish in the ocean to eat some rusty trash bin. Their loss, right? I even started preparing your funeral from the moment you threatened the Mandarin. Not a smart move, I must add." Quinn flashed Stark a smile before he started talking again.

"I was actually considering making Pepper CEO at Quinn Worldwide, but then I realized I could even buy your name if I wanted to. But now that you're alive, for the time being at least, I will have to return to my evil plan to kidnap Pepper and brainwash her. But she just likes babysitting, doesn't she? That's just the way some people are. Some have a great future ahead and all they have to do is accept it. But being stupid little puppets, they don't"

Tony smiled sweetly at the man in front of him, imagining Quinn dying many, many horrible deaths. And Tony Stark was extremely imaginative.

"What, no smart reply to this one? You're getting as rusty as your Toys, Stark. But it's nice to hear my own voice while in the same room as you. I don't know if you've been ever told this, but you talk a lot Stark. Way too much for my taste. I don't know how you guys can stand him." Quinn acknowledged the rest of the team just then. They had all been watching the battle of egos.

"But I suppose you've just been ordered to do so. A pity. Brilliant minds dying out, caged by irrational fear. I doesn't matter your research could kill people. Sometimes you just have to turn into a green monster, and I ain't talking about jealousy right now in case you were wondering." Quinn winked at Bruce whose frown deepened.

"It's natural selection after all. They are all going to die anyway. Shot, poisoned, hanged, some even have enough bad luck to have some terminal illness, interned in a hospital, and the hospital randomly burns down. Little ants in an oven." Quinn looked at the Black Widow, waiting for a tear, yell of anger even blinking, but he was impressed by her poker face. Well not so impressed. Super spy, assassin and who knows what else?

Quinn then looked at Clint with a mischievous glint in his dark eyes. Tony didn't like that at all

"Quinn if you say another word I will end you"

"Stop ruining my fun, Stark" Quinn snapped and brushed the nonexistent dust off his electric blue tie. Clint's eyes lingered on that tie, but not because he was admiring it. "I never realized, Agent Barton, that this tie matches your eyes, how lovely. Don't you agree?" Quinn pointed at the tie which was the same color as the Tesseract

"At least you'll look fabulous when you die" Clint's dry reply made Tony smirk.

Quinn dramatically yawned and looked at his watch. "Well I almost forgot why I came here for. Captain Rogers, would you be so kind to help me with something? You see, I bought this watch a few years ago and I was told it's from 1940. I want someone to assure me that it is true. What do you think?"

Natasha was boiling with anger. Of course she didn't show any of it. She looked bored on the outside, that's all. Now that she knew Quinn was behind all of it, she was pretty sure they were going to live. Quinn was bad, evil even, but not near evil enough to kill an entire team of superhero. Besides she wasn't even sure Cap and Bruce could be killed. She, however, didn't see a reason for Quinn to kidnap them. Well getting rid of Stark might be a good enough reason, but she was sure he was too controlled by someone else. And what were Tony and Clint saying about Coulson? She had had a feeling Fury didn't tell them the truth before the battle in New York, but she didn't think he could keep something as big as Coulson being alive from them.

_'His secrets have secrets'_

Stark was right, after all. She didn't dwell on the betrayal she felt regarding Phil being alive or Tony not telling them or Clint not telling them. Instead she focused on possible answers at the questions running through her head. She blinked, everything falling into place at once. She knew why they were all kept here, not killing them, at least not yet.

"Who would have thought Ian Quinn would want to get his hands dirty. Why are you here? Tired of paying others to do your dirty work?" The Black Widow watched the man's eyes harden, a glint of something in them, fear, Natasha guessed. So whoever managed to make Quinn do all the work didn't only blackmail him into it. Quinn would have easily managed with blackmail. No.. Quinn was afraid.

"Actually, yes. I really wanted to see what exactly assassins feel when they see the life leaves the body. Of course, killing one person doesn't make you an assassin, right? You have to work harder. You two, just out of curiosity, how many have you killed?" His eyes met Clint's "With those who you've killed while being controlled or" he faced Natasha once more "while being brain washed"

"About 3,000. Give or take a few hundreds. So you rookie, have to start now if you want to beat us." Clint smirked

"That's impressive, isn't it guys?" He backed off a few steps to see the others.

Steve swallowed nervously. He two had killed many. But he didn't keep a record. Not because he didn't think it mattered as they were 'the bad guys'. But it's pretty hard to stop and count when you're in the middle of a war.

"What about you, Doctor Banner? I'm curious, do you remember while being Hulk? Sorry, The Other Guy." Quinn inquired with an innocent expression that didn't fool anybody

"A hundred and seventeen" Bruce managed to choke out. He was furious and the serum they had given him was physically restraining him from hulking-out. And it hurt like hell. But it was a nice change from having the Other Guy yelling in the back of his head. He was quiet, asleep maybe.

"That's not impressive. If you decide to do something, you do it right. Don't you agree, Stark? How many has the Merchant of Death killed and how many has Iron Man saved?"

"Cut the crap, Quinn. Who are you working for?"

Ian Quinn turned towards the Black Widow, smirking.

"Well, I suppose I can tell you. It's not like you're going to live long enough to tell someone. And I think you will be quite surprised and I really want to see that."

Quinn turned around and walked towards the door, but didn't left as the team thought he would. He flipped on a switch and the lights in the room were turned on.

If the team hadn't been staring at a sign on the wall in front of them, they would have seen the big, empty apart from their cages, room.

But they all stared in shock at the black sign painted on the wall. The sign meant one thing and they all whispered a word. HYDRA.

"But how?" Steve asked though there were few chances his question would be answered.

The door on their left opened and through it entered a person they didn't expect to see. Maria Hill.

Bruce then realized how they knew the exact method to make the Hulk silent, to weaken Steve and even bring back ghosts of their past. S.H.I.E.L.D database. Agent Hill had access to almost all the information apart from few Director Fury kept hidden even from her. Bruce knew all of that, because Tony's hobby was to hack the agency. Sure it seemed that Tony didn't trust him enough to tell him Coulson was still alive. Sure, he hadn't known the man for long, but something that big should have been told to the whole team, not kept a secret.

And why would Maria Hill betray the agency?

Too many secrets for Bruce's taste.


	5. Chapter 5

**This is it, guys, the last chapter.**

**I'm sorry if you don't like how it turned out, but I wanted it to finish like this from the beginning.**

**I've just finished reading Divergent, and that gave me the idea with the fear-serum :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything**

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><p>"Hill" Clint nodded<p>

"Agent Barton, Romanoff, Banner, Stark, Rogers" she smiled sweetly at each of them. "Too bad we couldn't find any weakness for Thor, though. It would have been fun to have him caged here, too. Don't worry, we've sent him back home. And let's hope for his own good the bridge stays broken"

They had, of course worried about Thor's absence, but they had a little hope he had managed to leave and return to S.H.I.E.L.D. God knows how they've managed to send him back. But at least he was alive and not tortured.

"How could you betray S.H.I.E.L.D?" Steve asked. Today it seemed he asked precisely the questions no one answered to.

"We all have our reasons"

"I thought Hydra didn't exist anymore. You know, after Cap here killed Red Skeleton" Tony jerked his head towards Steve, but not taking his eyes off Hill. He never liked her. But that didn't mean he ever thought she would betray them.

"And I thought you are a genius. Looks like we've all been deceived. One head falls, so what? If Fury dies, S.H.I.E.L.D dies too? That's not how things work around here."

"You would know" Clint commented

Maria Hill turned to face the archer, her ponytail moving slightly at her movement.

"Come on, Barton. It's just business. No need to get sentimental about it. But you never got over it, did you?" Hill's lips curved into a smile. It looked strange on her usually stoic face.

"What are you talking about?" Bruce had had enough not knowing. He needed answers even if not to the important questions.

Before Clint opened his mouth, Natasha answered, knowing that if she let the archer answer it was going to get ugly. "Barton and Hill were fighting for the post the Cavalry had resigned. Fury's right hand"

"He probably needs a right eye more than another right hand" Tony murmured. He hated not taking part into this discussion.

Maria ignored Stark and went on trying to get on Barton's nerves. She had learned a long time ago she was quite good at it.

"Guess who won"

Clint snorted, but winced. He had a few fractured ribs and he also lost a lot of blood. He regained his posture rather quickly.

"I never wanted the post anyway. You don't want it anymore either, I see" he smirked as he saw anger flash in Hill's eyes. He could have also imagined it as her posture didn't look angry at all. He enjoyed pissing her off, anyway.

"You know why he chose me?" Hill didn't wait for an answer "Because I am able to see the bigger picture and willing to sacrifice a few lives. Unlike you. You've always been the suicidal one, ruining most missions. After you brought Romanoff in instead of killing her, I was sure he would kick you out and kill her. But since that was not the case, I'd hate to steal from myself the pleasure of making him watch every one of you die."

Hill jerked her hand p and pointed at a camera on the corner on their right.

"How thoughtful of you. What do you guys want to see? Oh, and bring popcorn and a TV" Tony chuckled at his own jokes. He was high on adrenaline, probably, thought Natasha. Or just suicidal.

Quinn left and Clint suspected it was because he didn't want Fury to see him. He couldn't afford letting the agency know about his hobbies.

"What do you want from Fury? Money? They didn't pay you well enough so you switched sides?" Steve asked

"Not exactly, Captain. What we want is slightly more powerful"

'Hello Nick. You know, just chatting with our friends. The ones you've lied to so long about Coulson's death. They know the truth, actually. I never really understood why you had to lie to them. I mean, of course at first Phil's death had been a great way to make them fight. "

"Could you get to the point already?" Bruce gritted out.

"Yes, the Tesseract powered weapons. Those would be a great help for us."

When they opened their mouths to protest she went on explainint. "Did you idiots really think Fury didn't get his hands on some blue cube powered weapons before sending the Tesseract back on Asgard? Anyway 'BRING HIM IN, BOYS' she shouted towards the door

Hill moved the camera so that Fury would see crystal clear who the other was. From how Hill was speaking, Fury must have been seeing it all live. Tony hoped they had agents smart enough to track them. Or at least to find some clues from when he had searched for Clint and Natasha.

A man in a bloody suit was shoved into the room, but managed to keep his balance and the door closed after him, but his head was down so the team couldn't see who it was. When he finally raised his head, they all saw a ghost.

Agent Phil Coulson, the dead man Tony used to consider a friend, Clint and Natasha used to consider more than that. Of course that was before he died. Now that man was a memory, and the one that entered was a stranger.

"Okay, what the fuck is going on?" Tony yelled out in frustration. He was beyond sick of playing it all cool.

Coulson stood up straighter, yet it only made him look more pained. After coughing and splitting out blood he answered. "Weren't you the one boasting about knowing I'm alive?"

Stark opened his mouth to reply, but Hill cut him off. "There's no time for that." then she turned to Coulson "Are you able to walk?"

Coulson just nodded. "You could have made it look more legit, though."

"At least they bought it."

"You think?"

"Quinn left, didn't he?"

"Stop. Stop right there." Bruce managed to shut them both without even yelling. "WOuld you two be so kind to explain what is going on?" The last words were yelled though. It was good to finally be able to be angry without being in danger of killing or seriously injure all the people in the room.

"We're getting you out"

They didn't have time to require further explanation as a clap of thunder was heard. "That's weird" Steve mused. He could have sworn they were way deep underground.

The door burst open to reveal an angry looking god of thunder.

"Thor? NOW SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL?"

"There's no time for explanations now, my friends. We have to take you away from those poisonous cells" Thor threw his hammer and it collided with Clint's cell bars, making a whole large enough for him to escape.

"What's with the poison and cells?" Tony frowned. He hated not knowing. And he hated not being right which he hadn't been. Well maybe he had been, after all the guys that captured them, whoever they were, could still have done it to hurt Coulson. Emotionally, Tony added as he took in the agent's bruised face and body, he guessed after the weird way he held himself up.

"You've been drugged" Hill replied shortly.

After all the Avengers were out of their cells, they used their super-senses to feel something on the back of their head. It was some sort of needle, pumping something in their blood.

Well, actually Hill had to hit Stark on the back of his head for them to realize. But they were supposed to be professionals, so they usually told the first version every time someone asked them.

Another thing they never told anyone was how, after taking out the needles they didn't even make it to the door, before collapsing. The last thing they heard was Hill telling 'I told you so', and of course Cap, who was the last one to fall from exhaustion, bursted out laughing at the silliness of it all.

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><p>When they all woke up, they had a lot of questions. And because Hill and Coulson said they did enough during the mission, by carrying them all to a safe place and fighting the hydra agents that didn't run at Thor's arrival, Fury was left with the annoying task of explaining them what happened.<p>

"I am not going to make you a drawing to understand, so you better listen." He rolled his one good eye around the room full of superheroes to make sure they were paying attention.

" First, you didn't see a ghost, Stark. You were under a serum that altered reality. They've made you all live your worst nightmares. That's why the other guy was silent, or why you weren't a super-soldier anymore. Also, they knew all this crap about you because Hill had to make them trust her." Fury's one good eye watched them to make sure they understood.

"Now Hydra wants some Tesseract weapons they believe we have and before you all start yelling at me, we don't. We fed them false information to make them act carelessly, made them fear we would manage to hide the weapons, or worse, destroy it. Hill was undercover; we needed an agent to lead others in a mission to save you all. We had to make it all look real. Thor was immune to the serum, so they tried to send him back on Asgard. We aren't idiots. We realized something was wrong immediately." Thor frowned at Fury. The director rolled his eyes "Okay, Thor helped a bit. You happy?"

"Why did I see Natasha getting tortured? Wasn't that her nightmare?" Bruce asked

"Honestly I have no idea" Fury admitted

"And what about Quinn? What is his connection with HYDRA?" Tony asked.

"Power. Anyway, you won't have to be concerned about meeting him at the annual annoying-billionaires gala, as he will spend the next decade or so disappearing from the face of the earth" Fury's smirk made them all a little worried

"You're going to kill him?"

"Of course not"

He was probably telling the truth, but it was Fury so none of them had any idea what to think.

"Also how did Hill manage to become head of HYDRA? I mean I understand she had to work undercover as a HYDRA agent, but when did she manage to lead it all?" Tony raised his eyebrows.

"My agents are the best ones out there." Fury stated proudly

"But isn't it a bit extreme? And couldn't she just order them all to march into a SHIELD base?"Bruce asked

"They aren't stupid, the HYDRA agents. But I admit she had exaggerated a bit. I don't blame her, really"

With that Fury left the medical wing of the Hellicarrier to make sure Coulson and Hill were going to get all the paperwork for the next twenty missions. He was the director. He didn't have time to play teacher for a bunch of crazy superheroes.

"So..This serum managed somehow to silence the other guy" Bruce started, looking at Tony, who nodded, reading his thoughts.

"We'll look into that. I'm sure we're going to come up with something."

"So Coulson's alive, huh?" Natasha's voice made Clint's eyes move on her. He knew what she felt. Betrayal. And not only from Coulson, but from him and Tony too. He knew he should have told her earlier. But after he found out, he decided that for him, Phil was still dead. He didn't want her to go through what he went through.

"I'm sorry, Nat"

She just nodded and Clint felt as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. She understood.

"I still can't believe it. If HYDRA had been running for so many years, why didn't they come after me as soon as I was out of the ice?" Steve murmured for himself, but Tony heard.

"Not everything's about you, Cap. Sure, if the Red Skull would still be running HYDRA, it would have been all about revenge. Now, it's just power. I can't believe I missed this HYDRA thing when I hacked into SHIELD. I mean, come on! I even managed to put my hand on some pictures of Fury back when he was young."

"I need to see that!" Clint almost jumped off his bed.

"Whoa there, Legolas. Your elf eyes will see the precious picture as soon as we're back at the tower."

That earned him a glare from the archer, but Tony couldn't care less in that moment. They were all alive. Who would have thought?


End file.
